June 15, 2011
On June 8, 2011, the Law School’s
Center for Labor and Employment Law hosted the opening
reception for New York University School of Law’s 64th Annual
Conference on Labor, "The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis
on the Workplace." Co-sponsored by Cornell University School of
Industrial and Labor Relations, New York University School of Law
Center for Labor and Employment Law and the American Arbitration
Association, the event at St. John’s Manhattan campus welcomed
distinguished attendees, including:
- George Cohen, Director, Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service
- Marshall Babson, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Former
Member, NLRB
- Karen Fernbach ’78, Regional Attorney and Acting Regional
Director, NLRB
- Joan Iliwicky, Arbitrator
- Jane Sammon, Catholic Worker
- Pearl Zuchlewski, Former Chair, NYSBA Labor and Employment Law
Section
Michael Perino, the Law School’s Dean George W. Matheson
Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship,
started the evening off with a discussion of his book, The Hellhound of Wall Street: How Ferdinand Pecora’s
Investigation of the Great Crash Forever Changed American
Finance. The book, which has received critical praise from
The Economist, Bloomberg, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal,
among others, recounts the story of a poor Sicilian immigrant who
earned his law degree at night and then took on the titans of Wall
Street during the stock-market hearings of 1933 and 1934. As Rory
Schnurr ’98 moderated, discussants Arthur Cheliotes, President of
CWA Local 1180, and Bob Croghan, Chairperson of the Organization of
Staff Analysts encouraged students to follow in Pecora’s footsteps
and become “today’s hero.”
The evening continued as
David L. Gregory, the Dorothy Day Professor of Law and Director
of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at St. John’s,
introduced Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop Emeritus of the
Archdiocese of New York. Cardinal Egan, the Center’s
inaugural Honorary Chairman, urged special compassion and
proactivity for the unemployed, reminding everyone of the personal
devastation of losing a job. Recalling that he blessed St. John’s
Manhattan Campus when it opened over a decade ago, His Eminence
noted its role in assisting victims of the 9/11 tragedy. “If
lawyers and labor get together,” he said, “nothing can stop them;”
a stirring message of unity that resonated throughout the
night.
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Taking a moment to recognize the Center for Labor and Employment
Law’s second anniversary, Professor Gregory shared that the best
way to honor the milestone was to celebrate the generosity of Law
School alumni and friends who have significantly expanded student
scholarship and employment opportunities. He then announced that
Melissa Schneer ’12, President of the Law School’s Labor Relations
and Employment Law Society, has been awarded the inaugural
Monsignor Thomas J. Darby, P.A. Memorial Scholarship for Excellence
in Labor and Employment Law. Msgr. Darby (1907-1992) graduated from
St. John’s University in 1928, went on to earn a doctorate in
history from Fordham, became a prominent “labor priest,” and led
the New Rochelle Catholic Labor School from 1938 to 1958. The
scholarship was made possible by Msgr. Darby’s nephew, James M.
Darby ’84, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and an
honors graduate of the University of Scranton and St. John’s School
of Law. It is the Center’s first significant scholarship
underwritten by a leading ADR Neutral. Professor Gregory also
commended Robert J. Nobile ’84, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP and
the co-chair of the Center’s Executive Committee, for underwriting
the Dorothy Day Scholarship since 1997. Concluding his remarks,
professor Gregory thanked Local 30 of the Operating Engineers and
its executive leadership for being the first labor union to
underwrite a law student scholarship and to provide summer
employment starting this year.
Sam Estreicher, the Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law and
Executive Director of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at
New York University School of Law, then took the stage to commend
Professor Gregory for his devotion, leadership and dedication to
students. He was followed by
Lawrence Joseph, The Reverend Joseph T. Tinnelly, C.M.,
Professor of Law at St. John’s, who introduced the evening’s
keynote speaker, UAW President Bob King, by recalling their
personal history dating back to the University of Detroit Jesuit
High School where his older brother was King’s classmate.
Continuing the introduction, NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman observed
that “social justice is a part of Mr. King.”
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Delivering an impassioned and powerful talk, King remarked that
Professor Gregory and his students are doing “very important” work
at St. John’s. Together, he said, “we need to create a social
justice movement, and demand more.” He went on to reiterate that a
unified labor force and collective bargaining are essential to
giving workers an effective voice. He encouraged students and
professionals to band together and create a movement “to demand
social justice.”
Professor Gregory closed the evening with an invitation to attend “
Worlds of Work: Employment Dispute Resolution Systems Across the
Globe,” an international conference being hosted by the
Center for Labor and Employment Law and
The Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at Cambridge
University on July 20-22, 2011.